On the 12th - 16th of June, a group of year 7 pupils visited Newlands Adventure Centre in Keswick. The trip started with a 2-hour bus drive to the Lake District. When we eventually got there, our first activity was a team building exercise. This involved a lot of different tasks like, getting a ball to travel through a series of tubes, getting untied from some ropes and making a bridge to cross some stones.
Please enter some contThe school 500 Games took place at Benfield School. It consisted of very popular sports that schools can compete in and was a very fun way to interact with new people, keep healthy and have fun. Our school participated in many differed events including Netball.
Our Netball team consisted of 9 fabulous girls, all of whom contributed towards winning bronze and should feel, masses of pride: Us (Charlotte and Leila), Freya , Grace, Charlotte, Sophie, Faye, Sophie and Ella. Brilliant job girls!
The Pyramid choir concert, made up of pupils from GEMS, Gosforth Central, Gosforth Junior High and Gosforth Academy, took place on July 4th. We had spent a few months learning some new songs; Country Roads by John Denver, Another Day of Sun from La La Land, Viva La Vida by Coldplay and Let Love Shine Through (which was mainly sung by Gosforth Voices). On some days, after school, we had rehearsals and we worked hard to perfect our numbers!
On the evening of 22nd May, 2017, seven Year 6 students and Mrs Lambeth went on a trip to the judging of The North East book awards 2017, held at The Centre for Life. Lots of kids from other schools were there too.
Firstly, we were given the chance to look at the books that were in the competition, before sitting down in the main room to hear about the books from the authors themselves. We had previously read all of the books and voted on which ones we thought were the best. Two of the five authors who had the chance to win were not able to come, so two other authors that came close to being on the list were invited instead.
Just before half term some members of Year 6 went to see a performance of ‘Heaven Eyes’ at the People’s Theatre. The play was adapted from a book by David Almond which focuses on a journey and it is set on and around the River Tyne.
Following the performance and after a series of workshops, the pupils submitted a piece of writing with the title ‘The Journey’ into a short story writing competition. Two of our talented pupils are prize winners in the Aged 9-11 age group and they are Samaha and Alice.
On the 7th June, some pupils from Years 7 and 8 went to Gateshead Stadium to take part in an athletics competition. The events Included high jump, shot, javelin, hurdles, 100m, 300m and 1500m (a very long way!) The stadium was huge and it was an amazing experience to run, jump and throw where professional Olympians had...though I am sure that some of the athletes from our school will be competing there at this level one day. If you did well enough you would qualify for an event at the stadium in July to win medals and determine who is the best in the country. A lot of our school’s competitors qualified.
On Friday 16th June, some Year 6 students went to a basketball competition in Northumbria University where the Newcastle Eagles play.
They left at 9.15 and travelled by coach with Gosforth Central. When they got in, there were schools from all over Newcastle. GEMS sat in the back row and listened to the rules that were being announced. They were split into Gosforth East A and Gosforth East B teams and the matches began.
On Tuesday 13th June 2017, 12 girls and 1 boy went to a gyOn Tuesday 13th June 2017, 12 girls and 1 boy went to a gymnastics competition at Walker Activity Dome. Team A was a group of year 5s and team B was a group of year 6s. When they got there, they ate their packed lunches on a balcony that overlooked the floor.
On Wednesday 12th of July 2 year 8s and 1 year 7, Isaac, Katie, Sonny and a girl from the Royal Grammar School called Hannah all got the opportunity to go to London to take part in a tennis competition and then to visit Wimbledon. They had been chosen by their tennis coach and it was part of the Premier League 4 Sport scheme which gives opportunities to young people aged 14-25years ( our pupils had done very well to be chosen since none of them were 14 yet) They travelled down late morning on the Wednesday and went straight to their hotel in Richmond. The next day, they got up nice and early, took their breakfast, got in the taxi and headed to their tennis tournament. Newcastle were the first to arrive, so they made themselves at home!
Towards the end of term, Year 7 pupils went on a trip to Alnwick Castle with their new Year 8 form teachers. This was a magical day for all of the Harry Potter fans and everybody else! The day involved The Dragon Quest, a range of exciting puzzles with a mirrored wall maze and several dark tunnels… this was a favourite activity for many. Another favourite was the broomstick flying lesson, where every pupil enjoyed taking photos of their levitating friends! To improve their knowledge of medieval medicines, they learnt about and debated if certain cures would work. The children also worked with their friends to produce soap to take home and keep. The pupils got a chance to visit inside of the castle; everyone enjoyed exploring the massive library and dining room and learning more about the castle’s history. On the journey back to school, the children discussed what they had learnt with each other and how much they enjoyed the day. A group of girls said, “We loved the broomstick-flying lesson and learning about the castle’s fascinating history. It was an amazing trip!”
The children, part of bike club, went to Kielder Reservoir. We started off very cool and relaxed but by the end of the day we were the opposite (sweaty and tired!).
When we got there we got off the mini bus and got our bikes off the trailer. We waited for bike tyres to be pumped up whilst we went to the toilet or had a quick snack. Next we took a quick but artistic photograph of everyone together on their bikes ready to go. Restless with excitement, we set off.
On Monday morning, we had the pleasure of welcoming our Chinese visitors, both teachers and students . With all of GEMS wearing the Chinese lucky colour (red), we greeted them warmly. The house captains prepared an assembly; it significantly captured what GEMS is all about and informed our guests about Newcastle – home of the Geordies- ‘Whey aye man’
